With the wide variety in skills, experience, and classifications in Maine, it’s hard to determine just who is the best girls basketball in the state.

This year, however, Maine’s basketball observers may have come as close as they can. Rated as the top player in the state on 88 percent of the ballots for the 29th annual Bangor Daily News’ All-Maine girls basketball team, Cony of Augusta senior forward Katie Rollins heads up this year’s group of 15.

Rollins, this year’s Miss Maine Basketball, is joined on the first team by Miss Basketball finalists Whitney Morrow of South Portland and Dirigo of Dixfield’s Alexa Kaubris, plus Maranacook of Readfield’s Toby Martin, and Monica Selander of Caribou.

This year’s second team consists of Dexter’s Ashley Ames, Portland High’s Ashley Anderson, McAuley of Portland’s Ashley Cimino, Rollins’ Cony teammate Cassie Cooper, and Shelby Pickering of Lee.

The third team, made up entirely of guards, is Lake Region of Naples’ Samantha Allen, Valley of Bingham’s Kristin Baker, Amanda Byrne of Winslow, Natasha Deschene of Presque Isle, and Cony’s Briiana Rende.

The All-Maine team honors the state’s top 15 players, regardless of class, position, or region, as selected by the NEWS sports staff with input from coaches, officials, and other basketball observers.

First team

ROLLINS collected an impressive haul of honors in her career in addition to Miss Basketball. She was a McDonald’s senior all-star, the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A Player of the Year, the two-time Eastern Maine Class A tourney MVP, and led the Rams to their first Class A state title since 1998. Plus, the 2004 All-Maine first-teamer is going to Harvard next year.

“Clearly she’s the best player in the state,” said Lake Region coach Paul True, who got to know Rollins while he was coaching at Cony rival Skowhegan through Rollins’ junior year.

“Defensively, she’s very active,” True added. “She can run the floor very well, which she doesn’t get much attention for, and she alters so much. With her in there, teams have to settle for a perimeter game.”

In addition to all the scoring and rebounding she did for the Rams, Rollins also averaged 3.5 assists per game. But it was her senior leadership that impressed coaches the most this year.

“When she got the ball, she finished,” said McAuley coach Liz Rickett, whose Lions fell to Cony in the state final. “It wasn’t like she had to take two or three shots. She showed a lot of heart and determination and just did what a senior is supposed to do.”

The most eye-popping stat of KAUBRIS’ career may well be the number of wins Dirigo accumulated in her four years. The Cougars had a sparkling 90-1 record with three Class C state championships and four Western Maine titles.

The two-time Mountain Valley Conference Player of the Year, Kaubris is heading to Bowdoin and is the third member of her family to be named to the All-Maine team (father Matt in 1977 and uncle Stan in 1973 and 1974) and first to the first team. She’s generally regarded as one of the top defensive players in the state.

“She’s not flashy, she’s not a great scorer or rebounder,” Greely coach Jim Seavey said. “But she’s very good at everything. She does a lot of the little things very well.”

Coaches credited Kaubris with the ability to change her game to suit what the team might need each game. She averaged 3.8 steals and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 73 percent from the free-throw line and 50 percent from the field.

“She’s a complete team player,” Valley coach Gordon Hartwell said. “She’ll do whatever it takes to win, and you don’t always see that because she adjusts from game to game.”

Coaches were once again impressed with the offensive versatility showed by MARTIN, a three-time KVAC Class B Player of the Year, EM Class B all-tourney pick, and senior all-star. She can shoot the ball, dish it off to an open teammate, or drive to the basket herself. She’ll get to do all that at Bates next year.

“She’s a phenomenal offensive player,” Winslow coach J.R. Richards said. “We let her shoot the ball, but where she killed us was her penetration. That was hard for us to handle.”

Martin, a first-teamer last year, led the KVAC in scoring and chipped in with 3.1 apg and 4.0 spg.

“She’s very, very impressive,” South Portland coach Mike Giordano said. “The way she handles the ball, you just can’t press her.”

MORROW, the Gatorade Maine Player of the Year and second-team All-Mainer last year, is considered one of the top athletes in the state. The first-team all-Southern Maine Activities Association shooting guard led the Red Riots to an undefeated regular season and a berth in the Western Maine Class A semifinals. Morrow is the first South Portland player to be named to the first team since Billie L’Heureux in 1986.

“As an athlete they don’t come any better,” Portland coach Ed Feeney said.

Morrow, who is considering offers from several Division I basketball programs, also added 3 spg and 2.9 apg while shooting 81.1 percent from the free-throw line and 34.1 percent from 3-point range.

“She’s legit,” Seavey said. “She can do it all. Can handle the ball, can shoot the ball, can jump very well. On the defensive side of the ball, she really made a conscious effort to be a better defender.”

SELANDER is the first Caribou player to be named to the first team since Jennifer Wyman in 1985. The lanky forward was on the second-team last year.

In addition to leading the Big East conference in scoring and rebounding, she also shot 67.8 percent from the free-throw line and 49.1 percent from the field. Selander led the Vikings with 2.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

“Everything starts with her,” said Jeff Hudson, who coaches at Presque Isle, Caribou’s heated rival. “She’s just a tough matchup. You have to let her get her points and work on shutting everyone else down.”

Coaches said Selander can do it all, whether it’s a mid-range shot, a baseline drive, or grabbing a rebound. She’s unsure about her college plans and might just head to UMaine for track and field.

“The versatility of her game is just incredible,” said Dexter’s Jody Grant, who coached against Selander in a McDonald’s senior all-star scrimmage. “She has all the tools.”

Second team

Ames and Pickering return to the second team this year.

For four years, AMES simply dominated every game in which she played. She’ll have a chance to do the same at Div. III power Emmanuel in Boston next year.

“She has improved so much in her four years,” Lee coach Ron Weatherbee said. “She has a soft touch, she catches the ball very well, and has nice hands around the basket. And [defensively] she altered every play within 10 feet of the basket.”

Ames shot 58 percent from the floor and had eight games this season in which she shot 70 percent or better. She was a Penobscot Valley Conference first-teamer for three years, a three-time Eastern Maine Class C tourney MVP, and a senior all-star.

ANDERSON was the top rebounder in the Southern Maine Activities Association and the third-leading scorer, but she also averaged 3.8 spg and 3.1 apg.

The SMAA first-team and senior all-star is headed to Div. II St. Rose in Albany, N.Y., on a basketball scholarship. Coaches also lauded her court vision and passing ability, which were rated among the best in Western Maine.

“I think she’s phenomenal,” Liz Rickett said. “She did everything at both ends of the court. Plus, she’s playing out of position. She’s a wing player, but she plays half the time inside. She’s a tough kid.”

CIMINO was the top scorer on a McAuley team that won the Western Maine Class A title, and she also made the all-SMAA first team. She shot 78.6 percent from the free-throw line and had 2.6 blocks per game.

Often mentioned as a Div. I college prospect, she played point guard as a freshman and was moved inside for her sophomore year. That kind of versatility, combined with her 6-2 size, make her among the top college prospects in Maine.

“She has skills that are going to get her a long way,” Cony coach Paul Vachon said. “To me, it doesn’t seem like she wants to play inside. She’s got a very smooth shot.”

In the Class A state final, Cimino was matched up against another Div. I prospect, Cony’s COOPER. In fact, the two players are similar in their ability to play inside and out with impressive height.

Cooper, an EM all-tourney team member and KVAC first-teamer, proved to be key when Rollins got into foul trouble in the state game. Cooper, an honorable mention last year, also averaged 2 spg and 3 apg.

“She can beat you with her shot and go to the glass,” Giordano said. “I look for her to take over in the next two years.”

PICKERING, who became the first-ever All-Maine player from Lee, is another versatile player who plays inside despite her height. She averaged 4.3 spg, 3.3 apg, and shot 55 percent from the field. She also averaged 11.5 rpg, including 5.7 offensive rebounds per game.

Pickering used her senior leadership to power a young Panda team to this year’s Class D state title. The senior all-star was twice named the tourney MVP.

“She’s a tremendous athlete,” Grant said. “She can run, jump, change direction, those kind of things. At the [senior all-star] game we had a difficult time keeping up with her. She can do a lot of things other people can’t.”

Third team

ALLEN is considered by several college coaches to be the top up-and-coming guard in the state. Ranked No. 1 in her class, she also led the Western Maine Conference in scoring and was first-team all-conference. Allen averaged 3.5 apg and just over 3 spg while shooting around 40 percent from 3-point range.

BAKER also has the eye of the college coaches as a point guard of the future, and her 7 apg and 5 spg back that up. The East-West Conference all-star also shot 78 percent from the free-throw line and 38 percent from 3-point range. Baker is on track to be Valley’s career scoring leader for girls and boys and the assist leader for girls. She’s the first Valley girl to be named to the All-Maine team.

BYRNE, the EM Class B tourney MVP as well as a KVAC and senior all-star, wasn’t responsible for scoring – although her team-high 12 points in the Class B title game proved she can score. Instead, the athletic guard displayed some of the best defensive skills in the state in leading the Black Raiders to their first Class B state title. She also averaged around 4 spg and is heading to UM-Farmington.

DESCHENE, the Big East Conference Class B Player of the Year and a senior all-star, helped lead the Wildcats to a 25-1 regular-season record in the past two years. Crafty on offense and slippery on defense, she led PI in scoring, rebounding, and steals (3.2) and averaged a Big East-leading 3.7 apg while shooting 33 percent from 3-point range.

Point guard RENDE was the steady hand for Cony as well as a defender whom Vachon trusted to handle the opposition’s quickest guard. A KVAC first-teamer, senior all-star, and all-tourney player, she handed out 6 apg and has a basketball scholarship to Div. II New Haven.